Tuesday, June 17, 2014

·SkillTree Knowledge Consortium in association with
Lavasa Corporation Ltd., launches India’s first international recognition platform
to identify Indian institutions that make a global appeal

·22 Indian institutes to be awarded certificates of
international league at House of Commons, London on June 24

New Delhi, June,
2014: With one
of the largest higher education set ups in the world along with the USA and
China, India churns out an estimated 50 lakh graduates each year and boasts of
over 600 Universities. Yet, its potential as a global education destination
remains somewhat underutilized due to several factors. Absence of aggressive
campaigns as well as lack of an international platform to certify Indian
institutions are among the reasons.

A new international
education initiative launched by SkillTree Knowledge Consortium, a thought
leadership communication strategy firm, aims to focus on this area by auditing
Indian institutions and promoting India as a global destination for education.

SkillTree
Knowledge Consortium
is an organization engaged into higher education advisory, spreading knowledge
and sharing ideas through research and publication, television series, conferences,
talk shows and learning theatre. It is now using its expertise to draw global
attention to India’s thriving educational sector, while also talk about the
improvements it needs to draw more students globally.

This
will be the first international education platform for India which is known to
produce world class techies, engineers, IT experts, doctors as well as
thinkers. It is to be noted that of the 50 lakh graduates India produces
annually, as many as 15 lakh are engineers.

‘Great Place to
Study’ is a new initiative established by SkillTree Knowledge Consortium and
the country’s first international recognition platform that aims to focus on global
recognition, annual rankings, global student enrollment tours and auditing
services in Indian institutions.

‘SkillTree
Great Place to Study’ will audit educational institutions across the country,
keep a tab on their rankings and facilitate student enrollments tours to help
institutions attract foreign talent. Great
Place to Study’s India edition has been sponsored
by Lavasa Corporation, with a long term aim to make India counted as a
global destination for higher education.

To
begin with, 22 Indian institutes will be
awarded the first certifications of ‘International League Indian Institutes’ on
June 24. The ceremony to recognize the Indian institutes which are
congenial to global students and provide world class education will be held at
the House of Commons in London, the United Kingdom.

“India
has great potential to become a global education hub for people from different
destinations. Already, a number of students from our neighboring countries as
well as several African nations turn to India for higher education. SkillTree
Great Place to Study initiative is aimed at magnifying the appeal of India by giving
Indian institutions an international recognition platform. We have a thorough
scrutinizing process of selection and auditing and a jury that goes about its
task scrupulously. We received entries from across India and our objective was
to identify institutions that offer world class education, the most congenial
environment to global students, boosting their potentials to grow. This
certification is an ongoing process. On June 24, we will have the first
installment of certification ceremony in London,” says Miss Arvina Purkayastha, COO, SkillTree Knowledge Consortium and
Editor, Great Place to Study.

“In
ancient times, India was recognized as a leading centre for education in the
world. Gradually over a period of time the country lost its pivotal position.
Today, a number of favorable factors are once again at play which will propel
India to the position of a global education hub. One of the many endeavors to
promote higher education is taking shape at Lavasa, the first of India's 100
new cities. Being developed as a premiere education hub, the city is slated to
host 50,000 students across the many education institutes based
here. ‘Great places to Study’ is an excellent platform for
promoting Indian education institutes which are growing in stature and to
showcase what India has to offer in the education space. Hence we decided to
support this pioneering initiative,” says Mr. Nathan Andrews, President and
CEO of Lavasa Corporation Ltd.

The
program is not just a recognition program but is also about showcasing higher
Indian education practices and possibilities India holds for foreign students. By
laying down a clear criteria for selection and scrutiny, the program will
indirectly propel India’s educational institutions to conform to its
requirements. This will also generate a much needed debate and discussion on
the steps India needs to take to make the country more amenable to global
students.